Pete Golding used his time at SEC media days on Wednesday to bury the hatchet with Lane Kiffin, primarily by revealing there was no hatchet to be buried. "Everybody won from it," Golding said. "It's okay."
Golding did not take Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss to LSU personally because he did not come to Ole Miss for Kiffin in the first place. And, practically speaking, his leaving allowed for Golding to promote into the job he has today. Selfishly speaking, Golding said, he'd have preferred to remain Ole Miss's defensive coordinator but was grateful for the opportunity to be the head coach. Not only did Golding move into Kiffin's old office, but he also moved into Kiffin's old house.
Amid Ole Miss coach Pete Golding's memorable SEC Media Day performance, he told ESPN that he lives in a house he bought from former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. "(Lane) helped me on this one a little bit .... because he had another offer that he actually worked out to where I… pic.twitter.com/mg2G2OXvNd
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 22, 2026
During his turn in Tampa on Thursday, Kiffin told ESPN that the arrangement allowed for LSU to gain some very specific intel into Ole Miss's recruiting activities.
He added: "I told him afterwards, you might want to change the Ring Camera."
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 23, 2026
Again, Golding and Kiffin's arrangement was unique, especially back in those transition days of December and January. While trading office spaces and homes, they shared staff as Ole Miss made its 3-game run to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Golding said Wednesday he'd have appreciated a looser leash on the assistant coaches transitioning from Ole Miss to LSU; Kiffin said Thursday Golding should have been grateful there was a leash at all.
"I could have not let anyone go," Kiffin said. "Ask people how the Georgia game would've went. I think they should be really appreciative. But I also understand everybody looks at things from where they're at. I don't expect Pete Golding to agree with everything I do, nor would I agree with everything said at press conferences. It's not my job to do what he wants, and it's not his job to do what I want."
Kiffin once said he believes Ole Miss would've won the national title had the Rebels allowed him to remain with the team through the Playoff; instead, Golding led Ole Miss to a win over Georgia, who handed the Kiffin-led Rebels to their only regular season loss, at the Sugar Bowl, just down the road from Kiffin's new home in Baton Rouge.
Point being, there was a lot of connective tissue between those two programs during that time, but that time has now passed. Ole Miss's roster and staff are Ole Miss's, as are LSU. They'll come back together Sept. 19 for the most anticipated game of the season, and then go their separate ways again.
Let's just hope Golding has changed his Ring camera by now.